On Monday, New Jersey’s U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, along with our state’s Members of the House Transportation Committee, Representatives Bill Pascrell Jr., Albio Sires, Donald Payne Jr., and Tom Malinowski, announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded more than $91.5 million in funding to advance replacement of the Portal Bridge and make other upgrades to improve service along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC).
Our National Passenger Rail Corporation, Amtrak, will receive $55,100,000 toward the federal cost-share for the Portal North Bridge Project. And New Jersey Transit (NJT) will get $36,408,410 to reconstruct electrical substation 41 in Kearny, which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The station supplies power to a crucial stretch of the Northeast Corridor, between Newark Penn Station and Penn Station New York.
This is a major victory for Amtrak, NJT, and the thousands of daily commuters who depend on rail service between New Jersey and New York, as well as up and down the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington.
We thank all the members of our state’s Congressional Delegation and the Murphy Administration for working to overcome the many hurdles they confronted, before this Federal commitment. This is a great step forward in continuing efforts to convince Federal officials of the need for, and the national importance of, the Gateway Project.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x121.